Jillian Jacqueline Feels a ‘Tremendous Amount of Responsibility’ in Country Music

Jillian Jacqueline‘s debut single, “Reasons,” recently made its way to country radio, marking a big milestone for the rising star.

Jacqueline has been making a name for herself in the industry for years, and has served as an example to other females in country music who are attempting to forge their own path. Speaking to Sounds Like Nashville, Jacqueline explained that she was once in that position, and now finds it important to be a trailblazer for other artists.

“It’s a tremendous amount of responsibility, just because I know there’s a lot of girls that are watching this next class, because I was one of them,” she said. “I was watching the Marens and the Kaceys, being like, ‘I want this to work. Don’t slow down. Be brave.’ We’re all kind of cheering them on because watching them break open doors means there’s a path for us to also keep going.”

Jacqueline added that along with women on the radio today, she’s also found inspiration from legends who have come before her, including women like Shania Twain and Faith Hill.

“You cannot do it without the trailblazers first,” she said. “I know they felt that way about women before them. There’s such an amount of respect for all the girls in this genre that are doing what they do right now. I’ve met so many of them, and I’m always blown away at the amount of confidence and inner strength that they’ve all had to find over the years.”

In 2017, Jacqueline released her EP Side A, and revealed to Entertainment Focus that new music will be arriving soon.

“We have always had this idea that we would keep music steadily coming out because I have so much of it to put out there,” she explained, sharing that fans will be able to hear a new song in about a month and even more in the spring.

The singer believes that this is the year for women on country radio.

“I’ve been noticing when I’m out here on the road, I feel like that conversation comes up a lot,” she said. “It mostly comes up with the intent to change the way it is now. I have no doubt that that’s going to be shifting very soon.”

Photo Credit: Twitter / @jillianjmusic